The Engaging Brand

What is marketing?

When you see 'ing' at the end of words you understand that it requires action.

So socialising needs you to be social, entertaining means you have to entertain.

That is why marketing, for me, needs you 'to be the market'. It needs you to see your part within the market..for instance

• Create it
• Collaborate with it
• Listen to it
• Surprise it

So what is marketing.... market - ing is more than something you do to people, it must mean that you ARE part of the market. Not just feeding products but feeding the conversations. Not just a company but a personality. 

I smile when people refer to new marketing as this has always been the case. It is about understanding people and showing you understand and care about those people.

A market needs two or more people. One to have the need and one to have the solution. If those two are to match then you need to think, feel, live like the consumer. You need to want to be part of their lives.

Marketing has never been and can't be passive...it must be action orientated, relevant and fresh.

Are you living in and around your market? Are you being part of the market conversations?

Show 257 - Strategy for Sustainability

Show 257 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial.

The show talks with Adam Werbach about creating a strategy for sustainability. Adam  is the author of the book Strategy for Sustainabilityand is widely known as one of the foremost experts in sustainability strategy.

I talk with Adam about

• What is a strategy for sustainability - is sustainability a strategy or a means to an end?
• How sustainability is imperative for business survival.
• Does sustainability cover the changing human demographics?
• The need to realise that the human demographic shift will affect consumers as well?
• Will big business models survive?
• What is the role of business in changing our behaviours vs the Government vs the individual?
• How do you create engagement on sustainablity.
• The risk of seeing sustainability as a marketing tool.
• How do you create a message which is not telling or preaching?
• Is the web or social media part of the sustainability answer or problem?
• Will the world be utopian if sustainability is found?

Don't forget to subcribe to the show so you don't miss Part 2 in iTunes or on the Blubrry site.

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or join me on twitter.

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click to hear the latest marketing podcast

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

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When you hear the baby cry....

I was leading a session on feedback today and it reminded me of when I contributed to The Age of Conversation 2 a wonderful charitable project.

I wrote about how when we see a child born, we are desperate for feedback that the child is healthy...we wait with baited breath for that first cry. I was illustrating that all through our life we value feedback and yet in practice, in the busy world we live we forget how valuable that feedback is - to give as well as receive.

I thought I would share a few sentences from the article

• Human beings are resourceful...when we don't feel listened to, we invent tools to gives us a voice - pen and paper, the printing press, social media.
• Why do companies fear these conversations? Because they are acting in parental mode, rather than mature adults...
• Leaders need to evolve from telling to listening, from directing to facilitating, from determining what the value should be, to what people actually value.
• Social media allows you to hear the baby cry and to hold them close and nurture the relationship. feeding the innovation from the many rather than the few.

"So the next time you hear the baby cry, remember the power of the voice, remember as a leader or a parent the way to succeed is to value that cry and dedicate your life to nurturing that relationship"

For the full article and also 236 other contributions about the age of conversation - and to help a charity - check out the book here

3 Thought on Human Connection

Humans are natural connectors. I have spent the last 7 days changing trains, buses, using the phone, the internet, meeting new people, attempting to connect ideas for clients etc

We live by connection whether we realise it or not. It is not whether we are connectors it is whether we can add value through our human connections.

I ran a online social media session last week with someone who said "I am not a connector" and yet when we went through his life...he spent virtually every minute of the day connecting.

What he meant was, he didn't know how to make the most of his connections.

3 sentences which will help you

1. Ask not they can do for you but what you can do for them.
2. People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel. (Dr Maya Angleou's great phrase which I end The Engaging Brand podcast with each episode)
3. People will never care how much you know, until they know how much you care (Zig Ziglar)

Branding - With strings attached :)

Last week I had the pleasure of having lunch with Guido Dieteren who is a wonderful violinist and conductor of his own Guido's Orchestra.  

I love people who are authentic and who are passionate about what they do...after an hour with Guido you understand what true branding really is!

True branding is not a piece of paper, a logo or what you want people to see...it is who you are, it is what your values are, it is the way you live your life personally and professionally. You cannot manufacture that...the person, the company..the orchestra has to feel that...

I was so impressed with his desire that everything he touches and everything he is involved in - just has to be done in the right way and to the right values. It is not about trying to build a brand, it is about his desire to create a better world. A world which has less poverty, a world which reaches out to people and helps....We were only talking over lunch with friends but I was moved by the passion - and I realised that is what a true brand achieves...it captures your heart as well as your head.

I was struck because when you hear people such as Guido, such as Steve Jobs, such as Richard Branson....you realise that you cannot create a true authentic brand, it grows from inside their soul....a seed of passion that creates who they are....

Check out the spectacular it creates over at the Facebook page for Guido's Orchestra, look at the way he uses colour, different sounds, movement to create the experience...I think we can learn so much from musicians.

This is an earlier video I found on YouTube....

Show 256 - Reward and Recogntion for Employees

Show 256 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial.

The show talks about the importance of employee reward and recognition with Razor Suleman from I Love Rewards, a leader in results-driven rewards and recognition solutions. We talk about

• How important is reward and recognition for employee performance?
• Is recognition the same as reward?
• How money is NOT the no 1 recognition factor for employees.
• Is recognition more important in a recession?
• How do you create an engaging employee reward system?
• How do you ensure that the employee recognition is not subjective?
• How you launch a reward program?
• What kind of rewards should you think about?
• Can you have a social networking element to the reward system?

Don't forget to subcribe to the show so you don't miss Part 2 in iTunes or on the Blubrry site.

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or join me on twitter.

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click to hear the latest marketing podcast

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

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Brand Strategy for the Long Term

The recession can cause even more short term thinking, and I yet I believe businesses need to fight that urge as much as cash flow allows!Companies which succeed have a long term vision, they accept a few problems along the way, in order to achieve their dream.

I always think back to Henry Ford

With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, you can lose focus on the long term aim of your work. Not just the financial targets but the real purpose behind your work.

1) Henry Ford's first company lasted only a year because the shareholders saw it as a money making concern.
2) Henry Ford left his second company after just 18 months because he believed that the board's desire for profit bred a fear of failure.
3) In the 3rd company Henry Ford sacked a backer to follow his dream democratizing the motor car.
4) It took him 9 years to get the production cost down to $345 and saw sales of 730,000 a year.

The great leaders in history of all had a strong sense of purpose, a reason for being...not just the money.

The money comes when you start producing against the vision.

In the modern work think Google, think Microsoft...their dreams were higher than money...and yet 2 of the most profitable companies in modern history.

8 Steps to Create a President Obama Speech!

I love learning and recently I have been listening to President Obama's weekly address podcast. Not because I want to hear about what he is doing but to understand how to construct a message, how to improve your speech making ability. Obama has that ability to hit the right note in terms of great speech making. This is what I have learned

1. Start with a personal story which outlines the problem
2. Explain his feelings on the situation - use personal, emotive language.
3. Then look at the general problem using facts, figures etc
4. Give practical example of what the future COULD look like
5. Ask for people's comments, give them a place to contribute.
6. Face the opposition head on and answer the critics.
7. Then see off the opposition by relating back to those personal stories. Which makes the opposition look hard and unfeeling.
8. Inspire change. Use emotive language like 'we owe it to...' to make people feel they must change.

It is not about whether you are republican or democrat, from the US or like me the UK, it is about listening and learning about how to craft a message which is personal and emotive. Fascinating listening each week....

Show 255 - Brand Engagement Through Virtual Gifts

Show 255 of The Engaging Brand leadership and marketing podcast is ready just for you. To subscribe or listen on your PC now - both for free, you don't need to download anything - all explained at the end of the post and don't forget to try GoToMeeting for your 30 day free trial.

Today I talk with Paul Martecchini and Nir Eyal who run a company called AdNectar which provides branded virtual goods as part of a brand engagement strategy. During the interviewwe talk about examples and I have linked to Paul and Nir's facebook pages so that you can see the virtual gifts and here is a quick insight into the method soap virtual branded gift. We talk about 

• Using virtual goods as part of your brand strategy
• What is the size of the virtual gift market?
• What is the financial model for virtual gifts?
• Are virtual gifts about marketing awareness or reveune generating?
• How do you measure brand engagement?
• How to design shareable virutal gifts
• How can you control where your virtual gift is shown?
• What do you define as social networking sites?
• The power of user generated consumer targetting
• How do people find out about the virtual good?
• Do virtual gfts work across all marketing sectors?
• Can virtual goods be used internally?

Paul also sent me links to articles - Facebook App Ushers in new Elmo Toy and also an article Virtual Goods a Hot Market for Consumers for you to look at.... I also mention a grief support group - if you would like to know more watch Widows Quest for the next session.

Don't forget to subcribe to the show so you don't miss Part 2 in iTunes or on the Blubrry site.

If you have feedback for me on the show or topics that you would like me to cover then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com or join me on twitter.

How you can listen to the Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click to hear the latest marketing podcast

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following  http://www.podcasternews.com/feeds/enbr.xml

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“Online Meetings Made Easy with GoToMeeting Try it Free for 30 days use Promo Code Podcast”

Online Criticism - Just Free Market Research

Gosh, it must be something in the web water as I was asked to be part of a social media conversation over at The Marketing Blog. Here is part of the conversation around feedback something I get asked a lot about....

Today, if somebody abuses my brand online I am not sure how do I handle it? Do we have a so-called best practices book about how to handle online criticism?

The important thing to realise is that criticism happens whether you are part of the community or whether you decide not to engage. The only way to have any degree of control, is to be part of that conversation so that you can turn the negative perception into a positive awareness. Criticism is happening and now is amplified to a global audience – so the question to me is why wouldn’t you want to be part of that discussion about your brand?

Couple of things to remember

a) Monitor the conversations so that you are aware of what people are saying.
b) Respond to the conversations  – however, remember it is important to have coached people how to respond.
c) Remember feedback whether positive or negative is great feedback. Be careful that you don’t read it as pure negativity instead see it as free market research!